


The Role of NSFW in Fandom works

by TrashAYfanfiction



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga), Essay - Fandom, No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Discussion, Essays, Fandom, Fandom Commentary, Fandom Communities, Maturity, Nsfw content, Social Commentary, Trigger Warnings, political correctness, potential spoilers for Banana Fish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 21:19:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16354517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashAYfanfiction/pseuds/TrashAYfanfiction
Summary: ESSAYinspired by a comment "What do you think of artists doing nsfw art of banana fish art???? Idk how I should feel about it..."I will be using the series ‘Banana Fish’ as an example to analyze the role of NSFW content across fandom works and how NSFW fits in with political correctness.





	The Role of NSFW in Fandom works

**Author's Note:**

> I was suggested to post here by Tumblr, because apparently AO3 hosts fandom related essays? I mainly write fanfiction and will continue to use AO3 mainly for that.  
> Essay originally posted on Tumblr regarding NSFW content for the Banana Fish fandom. 
> 
> I have one more essay about Ash/Eiji's non-heteronormative relationship and why BF has such a large crossover fandom with LGBT audiences compared to BL manga. That will be posted eventually.

This essay was inspired by a comment "Whadda ya think of artists doing nsfw art of banana fish art???? Idk how I should feel about it..."

            I will be using the series ‘Banana Fish’ as an example to analyze the role of NSFW content across fandom works and how NSFW fits in with political correctness.

For those of you who don't know, Banana Fish is a classic shojo manga written by Akemi Yoshida that ran from 1984-1995 (19volumes). It is a crime drama set in the 'real' world (by pulp fiction standards) and features dark themes such as rape, sex trafficking, pedophilia, and has large amounts of action and violence. It treats these themes as not just sensational, but serious events that effect the victims and those around them. It features a pivotal queer relationship between it's two main protagonists, but it is not prominent enough to be considered shonen-ai. Little to say, Banana Fish a standout among most genres for one reason or another.

Our main character (and one half of the prominent queer relationship) Ash Lynx, is a victim of sex trafficking and childhood sexual assault. Unlike a typical Yaoi or BL manga, these events are played as horrifying to him. These events are not titillating fanservice to him, and they shape his character accordingly. (How much these events are titillating fanservice to the viewer depends on the viewer, but within context of the story, rape and assault are seen as an unforgivable bad thing.) Due to these events, Ash views sex negatively; he sees it as a tool to get what he wants, and a way to assert power over someone. One of the reasons he forms a connection with his romantic partner in the manga is that the boy (Eiji) first and foremost wants to be his friend. Their relationship progresses slowly and it gives Ash a lot of character development and healing, but the sexual aspect, the concept of ‘reclaiming’ sex is never explicitly touched upon in canon. The characters don’t have sex and don’t have sexual desire for each other, aside from a few suggestive pictures of Ash in an after shot photo album ‘New York Sense’ (Eiji is a photographer, so these images are within canon, not just ‘artbook’ images).

There are a lot of external reasons why their relationship isn’t sexual such as the magazine Banana Fish was ran in, norms for the time regarding queer content and what was appropriate messages for girls comics, ect.

Within the context of the series’ world they likely aren’t having sex due to Ash’s trauma. One could argue that the sensual afterword images mean that sex is starting to be worked on, but it’s never explicitly stated. Sex is dirty and looked down upon (at least by Ash) in canon, and that’s where the NSFW debate arises.

            _Should_ fans use a character to write/draw porn when a significant part of that character’s backstory is being sexually abused, and the message of the series is that making someone a sexual object is dehumanizing and bad? 

                Many people have issues with sex in general, and sexual assault is a real and terrible crime. It makes many people uncomfortable to think about, let alone read about, especially if they have been assaulted/the message of a series is ‘hey, take this crime seriously’. And just regular sex has a lot of associative meanings and reasons behind it, and societal stigma.

I have thought about this a lot, how should I feel about NSFW fan work. Ultimately it comes down to; fans are going to do what they want, and if you don’t like it, be an adult and move on. 

 I want all works to be looked at critically, but this doesn't mean banning what is found 'problematic'. Banning a type of content just shuts down dialogue about it. Knowing why people are writing/reading something is the most important feature. You can't make people just NOT want something anymore: this is how the blackmarket works. As fans we like to explore different possibilities. We are playing with concepts and reactions, we are not creating media for a mass market audience who doesn’t know if we are trying to promote a radical idea or just having a fun time. My audience is the one who decides what they think of my work. I have written deeply personal pieces that the bulk of my audience have gobbled up as porn, and I've written self-indulgent porn that my audiences have found deep meaning in that I have never intended. That's how art works. That's how human interaction works. People are different than you.

I feel differently about fanworks being politically correct vs published works being politically correct, but that's my own personal bias.

Why I feel differently about Fifty Shades of Grey as a mass market novel opposed to other smutty fanwork, is because I don't trust a mass market population to take it as a fantasy. They are both the same in content, but as widespread published novels it becomes an influence on society. Banning it is not going to help anyone, but it’s our duty as consumers in society to point out their flaws as a social commentary. We need people to know the difference between reality where this behavior is not okay and fiction where these are titillating concepts. If fanworks have common or unhealthy themes I think it should be acknowledged as to why the author chose to write about them as well, but analysis isn’t as pivotal because it doesn’t reach as large of an audience.

I personally write a lot of dark and NSFW for Banana Fish, because I like playing with the idea of IF the story went there. What would the characters do? I’m also a sadist and I enjoy pushing the limits of what I can do in a fantasy, but I would never do these things to real people (Unless it’s a kink scene and all of this was agreed upon to do in a safe sane consensual manner -hit me up- …I mean….wait, my tumblr isn’t for this). I don’t want to promote disregard for real people. I am creating my own reactions, meaning and discussions based off the cannon work. I am not trying to normalize the horrific things I am writing about. There is a big difference between fantasy and reality and as long as that’s understood, we don’t have a problem.

 I love BF as a cannon work specifically because it discusses that difference between ‘personal sex fantasy’ and the damage of not acknowledging the other’s personhood when acting out that sex fantasy. Sex requires another living being who has their own life. The commentary BF makes related to society, rape culture, and sexuality acknowledge the damage to the victim, which I admire.

Bf is unique in that it plays abuse straight for what it is, where most other media glosses over the long term impact of abuse or use it as a one-note defining trait of character. Despite this, I find it hilarious to assume that 'Man with a Tragic Past' isnt the type Yoshida was going for when she wrote Ash. I don't see why we can't simultaneously have a titillating character and a serious depiction of violence at the same time.

I have been a BF fan for a long time (10ish years) and at first I felt that NSFW and BF just don’t go together. It made me uncomfortable, especially the dark fics. I related to Ash so much as a character I had a hard time separating myself from him. When I was young and reading the few BF fics in English on the internet, the sensitivity to Ash’s trauma in the few NSFW fics for it surprised me and grabbed my heart. They enthralled me. FF net was a thing, and livejournal/dreamwidth, ect. For me as an artist, it surprised me that sexuality could be approached with such a sensitive eye and still be sexy.

Now, as a more mature person who has an easier time separating fantasy from reality, I do use Ash as a sex object in my works sometimes. Sometimes I feel guilty about it still. Where is the line between dirty sex fantasy and respect for a character/person? Is sex inherently dehumanizing and degrading? These are questions BF in particular sets me up well to explore. I do find him and Eiji attractive, but I don't need to limit their roles to just sex objects. I can if I want to though, because they are fictional characters.

And sometimes I’m just writing while horny and am like “Ya know what would be hot?”. No analysis whatsoever, I don’t know why I feel what I feel all the time. Why are some people tops? Why are some people bottoms? IDfucnKnow?

I can easily see someone, particularly with trauma, not liking NSFW content for BF in fandom; and that’s okay. Some people learn to cope with their trauma, some don’t. I feel bad if my content triggers you, that isn’t my intention. I often use my content to process conflicts and events in my own life; that's how art works. If you would like to hold a discussion about my art, I am more than willing to. Blacklisting NSFW art has never worked before anywhere. I encourage you to ask yourself why you don’t like it, or ask why someone else might like it. I use a lot of my darkfic to cope with my own issues, do not take the freedom to share my thoughts away from me or anybody else. You cannot control how other people think and act, and this is why we have so many different types and forms of art. 

Start a discussion. Use facts and reasons. I don’t think anything is inherently bad or good, but I’m interested to see people’s reasoning. 


End file.
